Urgent Information Behavior

Listening to NPR yesterday, I heard a story dealing with an urgent type of information need I had never though of before. The story*, "Data on Survivors Hard to Find, Collect," highlights human information need in an extreme situation, a situation in which the need for information has become urgent because it is a matter of finding loved-ones in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Refugees have been dislocated from their homes and in some cases from their relatives. As they reside in temporary shelters, their information needs are not what a typical information professional might encounter on an everyday basis, but are nonetheless more practically important than most. The problem is, according to the NPR piece, that while there are some databases at individual shelters and ad hoc blogs aimed at helping people connect, there is no integrated database. One group in the Astrodome has formed to demand that their information need be met. This seems a rather unusual information behavior to me, clearly one that has sprung from desperation. People that might never have cared about databases or search strategies before are suddenly finding it neccessary to fight for access to these things.

*Del Barco, M. (2005). Data on Survivors Hard to Find, Collect. National Public Radio: All Things Considered. (2005, September 8). Retrieved September 8, 2005,